The end of the Secret Pals - How Sad!

So, if you can believe it, my SP8 pal sent yet ANOTHER package. This time, unfortunately, it's the last one - but certainly not least. I can't believe that it's all over. It's been such a fabulous summer being spoiled by two amazing pals. Well, I'm really excited though to know who my pals are - and to make a few new knitting friends! I guess that's really the point!

Anyway, so check out this package. I opened it up - and of course, I was greeted by many smaller little wrapped packages.
So, there they are - and you know that Frodo and Sam had to inspect as usual!! At the top, is a lovely letter from my secret 8 pal. Her name is Linda aka Craft Junkie. I think that she's probably one of the coolest women ever. She's from California and is a legal secretary, paralegal, and notary public. She's been married to her high school sweetheart for 37 years (what an accomplishment!) and has two grown children and one totally adorable grandchild. Anyway, it was just so awesome getting a chance to read up on this amazing woman who has been spoiling me all summer!!

So, what was inside those packages? There were so many that I broke them up into themes. First, a sheep theme!
Starting at the top and moving clockwise, that's a sheep piggy bank you're looking at. So adorable! Around the sheep's neck is a little sign that says Secret Pal 8 (it's actually the same icon I have on my blog). That way, I'll always remember my pal and this amazing experience.

Moving on, a set of size 11 straight needles - and at the top of the needles are two little sheep - one black and one white. I love them! They make me want to make something with larger needles so I'll get a chance to use them!

Next, that's a pez dispenser and key chain in the shape of a sheep! I love pez - and what better than a sheepy pez dispenser??!!

Lastly, is a very special sheep tape measure. I love cute little tape measures - but I don't have this one so this is a real treat. So adorable - and you can never had too many tape measures - so I know that this will come in handy. I love it!

So, onto the next theme - this one is a knitting/dying theme.
So, on the left are several skeins of cotton yarn and many many packages of Kool-Aid along with a little tutorial from Knitty to get me started on dying yarn. I'm very excited about this! I've thought about learning how to make my own handyed yarn - so this is exactly what I need to get me going.

Then, on the right, a lovely Knitting Journal - filled with empty pages for me to keep track of all of my projects. What an amazing way to keep track of all of my knitting and crochet progress. I can't wait to start using it!

And now, onto the last theme:
Two cat toys! I thought this was so sweet of my pal to think about my cats. As you know, Frodo and Sam have had tremendous fun with all of the boxes and wrappings that have arrived this summer - so it was so thoughtful of her to purchase a "real" gift for the cats. They love them both too! Here are some action shots of Sam playing with them:
These pictures are a little misleading because it was very hard to get them to "perform" on camera. You know the way that cats are. Also, Frodo has taken ownership of the toy on the left - which is quite an accomplishment because he's not so into toys (unless they're dangling on a string from a stick - those he adores) -but for some reason, he's really into this particular toy. So, that's great!

Anyway, thank you thank you thank you, Linda, my SP8 pal! I love everything - I've loved everything this entire summer and I'm so sad that this all has to end. Whoever you end up having as a pal in SP9 is going to be VERY VERY lucky!!

So, that's it for now - I'm still recovering but am feeling significantly better. Tomorrow we're having lunch at my uncle's house - which should be interesting given that I haven't eaten much more than tea and toast for the past 2 1/2 weeks - so I hope that they understand that I won't be eating with the same degree of gusto. Then, on Sunday, a friend of mine who I've known since I was about 3 or 4 years old is getting married. So, I'm really looking forward to that!

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!